Molly Caudery made headlines at the Toulouse Capitole Perche on Saturday by clearing a world-leading height of 4.92m in the pole vault. This not only broke the British record but also moved her to seventh on the world all-time list. Her previous best was 4.86m, achieved in Rouen in February, but she added six centimeters to that mark in wet conditions at the competition in Toulouse. She also surpassed Holly Bradshaw’s national record by two centimeters with her impressive performance.
During the competition, Caudery entered at 4.36m and cleared that, along with 4.51m and 4.61m on her first attempts. She passed at 4.67m and needed two tries to make it over 4.73m, but then easily cleared 4.80m on her first attempt. Finally, she reached the record-breaking height of 4.92m on her second try, before making an attempt at 5.00m.
This competition marked Caudery’s first since winning bronze at the European Championships in Rome in June. Her 4.86m clearance was the previous world lead, with USA’s Katie Moon in second with a clearance of 4.85m in Chula Vista earlier this month. French pole vaulter Marie-Julie Bonnin finished second in Toulouse with 4.51m, while Thibaut Collet won the men’s event with a height of 5.82m.
At the Meeting Madrid, Mohamed Daouda Tolo set an Asian shot put record with a throw of 21.80m, while Camryn Rogers set a meeting record in the hammer with a throw of 77.76m. Canadian Rogers won ahead of Anna Purchase with a throw of 71.79m. World 400m record-holder Wayde van Niekerk won the 200m in 20.29 seconds, while Eliott Crestan and Catriona Bisset won the men’s 800m and women’s 800m races, respectively. Worknesh Mesele finished second in the women’s 800m with a time of 1:59.33.